Manicotti with Freeze Dried Sausage & Spinach
This was my first try at making manicotti and I was surprised at how quick and easy it was to make. This would also work great as a lasagna. I used THRIVE freeze dried sausage crumbles, chopped onions and chopped spinach.
I love cooking with my TRHIVE ingredients, it makes life so much easier. I re-hydrate my ingredients in the same bowl to save time and reduce the number of dirty dishes. Before I made the dish I did a little searching on the internet to figure out just how to stuff the noodles. I ended up taking a large zip lock baggie and filling it with the cheese mixture. I cut a small hole in the corner and used it like an icing bag. It ended up working great. One thing I did learn is that overcooking the noodles is not a good thing. It made my noodles split under the pressure of filling them up. Although they tasted the same it didn’t have the perfect presentation I was aiming for. I served the dish with mini sandwich thins topped with garlic, spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 Cup THRIVE Freeze Dried Sausage Crumbles
1 Cup THRIVE Freeze Dried Chopped Spinach
2 Tb TRHIVE Freeze Dried Chopped Onions
10 Manicotti Shells
3/4 Cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
3/4 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
2 Cup Ricotta Cheese
2 Cup Spaghetti Sauce
Preheat oven to 350. Combine Sausage, Onions & Spinach in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. In a large sauce pan cook manicotti shells according to package directions, make sure not to over cook. Once your sausage mixture is re-hydrated, drain and mix with the parmesan and ricotta cheeses. Add this mixture to a large plastic bag and cut a small hole in one corner. Spray a glass 9 x 11 baking dish with nonstick spray and add a few spoon fulls of spaghetti sauce to the bottom of the dish. Use the baggie to fill each shell with the sausage and cheese mixture and lay shells in baking dish. Top shells with spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese. Bake covered for 15 minutes and uncovered for 15 minutes.
